VEECO DIMENSION 5000 SPM

The Cleanroom AFM is a Veeco, Model 3100 Dimension V Atomic Probe Microscope, fondly called our AFM for short. The principal upon which this tool images a surface is that it scans a very sharp probe point across a sample surface and monitors the vertical movement of the probe. Multiple scans are collected into a graph until a topographical image emerges. Because of the sharp point and precision tooling, this system can image and measure features as small as single atomic plane steps in a crystal surface. It is heavily used to measure feature depths, lengths, widths, surface roughness, and image highly magnified surface features. In particular, the tapping mode of operation follows the surface with the probe tip oscillating up and down, just tapping the surface, which lessens the likelihood of scratching a trench in the surface, so it is ideal for soft surfaces like polymer materials and delicate nano structures - by the way, it also works on hard surfaces.